Model Poem Lesson Plan:


Materials:
Annabel Lee Poem by Edgar Allen Poe
Teacher Example Poem
White Board with written directions for activity.
Pencils or Pens

Prompt: We have been studying different kinds of poetry throughout our poetry unit and now it is time to compose your own poetry and publish it for all the class to see. Below is a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, we are going to use this poem as a model for creating our own poetry.

Pre-Writing:
  1. After reading over the poem, think about what it says about love and life. Is there something in this life that you don't think you could live without?
  2. The poem also sounds a bit like a fairy tale, do you have a favorite fairy tale or bedtime story?
  3. After answering those questions, think about things that could describe the one thing you couldn't live without. What steps would you take to protect it?
  4. Describe your favorite bedtime story or fairy tale. What happened in the story? Where did the story take place?
  5. Take the next five minutes to organize the details and descriptions you might want to use to create your poem.

Drafting/Writing Our Poems:
  1. Begin with the first line of the poem "It was many and many a year ago _" Finish the line with your own words.
  2. With the next few lines of your poem (4-6) describe the person or thing you could not live without (look back at "Annabel Lee" for examples)
  3. In the next lines describe what you would do if that person or thing was stolen from you (Think of a bedtime story or fairy tale, the hero always has a journey)
  4. The next lines will be the closing of your poem, describe how you would feel if you recovered your person or thing (joy, anger, happiness, delight).
  5. Feel free to sample lines from "Annabel Lee." But the majority of the poem should be your own creation.
  6. Next make sure to claim your poem by giving it a title and author.
  7. Share with the class!

Example of Activity:
Lost and Found by Stephanie Hairyes

It was many and many a year ago when you were lost from me
In a kingdom far away,
My star and my light by the name of KING AARON.
This King lived with only one thing in mind, protecting the land he loved.
One day, a wind blew out of a cloud, chilling and stealing my king away from me.

Because you were taken from me, I began my long journey across the sea.
Little did I know that it was an evil monster separating you from me.
With my best ship and comrades in hand we went into the belly of the beast in order to set you free.
The fight was long and hard but victory was ours!

The day you returned to me was celebrated with joy and delight.
The kingdom marveled at your sight.
The day the King returned, the peopled rejoiced, but none more than the Queen.
Who was so pleased to finally have her King.__

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.


I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.


And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre


In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.


But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.


For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

-Edgar Allan Poe